Safer Roads for All

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​Safer roads, safer speeds Hamilton

We want everyone who calls Hamilton home, or visits our city, to be safe when using our streets and roads. That means in our busy city we need the right speeds on the right roads for all, whether walking to the shops, biking to school, driving to work or making deliveries.

As a city Hamilton has a Vision Zero goal for road safety – we don’t believe any loss of life on our streets and roads is acceptable. We’re also a growing city, with more than 20,000 extra people expected to call Hamilton home in the next 10 years.

One of the ways we can make our streets safer is by better managing the speed people travel around the city.

​Consultation on a draft Speed Management Plan for the city closed on 8 May 2019, and following hearings the draft Plan will be considered by the Council on 18 June 2019.

​​​The focus of our most recent road safety campaign was on intersections - and getting people to properly look when approaching them.

We all rely on each other to get to where we’re going safely, especially when we approach an intersection. But too often drivers are approaching these turning moments without properly turning their eyes on.

Around half of all of Hamilton's crashes take place at intersections, and the main causes for these are poor observation or failing to stop or give way. Looking, but not really seeing.

The campaign runs from mid-March to early April 2019 and the message we're promoting is "When it’s time to turn, turn your eyes on."

We also want to thank the 89 Hamiltonians who are pictured in the image, for their support for road safety in our city.

The key things drivers can do to keep themselves, and others, safe at intersections are:

When approaching an intersection, switch on, be actively aware of your surroundings and other drivers

Signal early, to give other drivers the best chance to see you too

Approach at a safe speed for the conditions

Actively look at the approaching vehicles and any pedestrians. Anticipate what's coming up.

Pay full attention through the whole intersection. Do not allow yourself to be distracted. Not by your phone, not by your passengers.​

Safer Roads for All campaign

Here's a campaign we ran in 2018 to raise awareness of the role we all have to play in road safety. There's many different people moving around on the city's streets and roads for all sorts of reasons, whether it's to go to school, work, shopping or for some exercise. We need to work together to make sure they get there safely and understand that speed plays a part in their safety.